The National Hockey League has confirmed what fans around Columbus have believed all season: Sergei Bobrovsky was the best goaltender in the NHL.
Admittedly, a lot of people will complain about the shortened season skewing the polls, and there are strong cases that could be made for the other nominees, Henrik Lundqvist and Antti Niemi, but today, it’s all Bob.
Amazingly, it isn’t just that Bob is the first Blue Jacket to ever win this honor, he’s also the first Russian born goaltender to ever take home this particular piece of hardware. You have to think he’s enjoying making a little NHL history today.
In 38 starts this season, Bob posted 21 wins, 11 losses, and 6 OT / SO losses, with a .932 save percentage, 2.00 GAA, and 4 shutouts. While he didn’t lead the league in any category, he was top five in several, and made an obvious difference to this club. The league’s general managers clearly recognized that Bob had “the total package” this season, with 17 of the 30 GMs giving him the first place vote.
With this victory announced, one has to expect that GM Jarmo Kekalainen and Bobrovsky’s agent, Paul Theofanous, will finally get down to brass tacks on a contract for the restricted free agent. Here’s hoping that, too, will be finished soon, though it will also come with higher expectations from both fans in Columbus and the NHL at large.